Joseph L “Joe” Abreu was born on May 24, 1913 in Oakland,
California. He was the sixth born in a family of nine children and
his parents arrived in California from Madeira, Portugal in 1906.

The Abreus were an athletic family. Three of his brothers boxed
professionally and Joe was a standout shortstop under coach Elwood
“Doc” Hess at McClymond's High School in West Oakland.

Abreu graduated in 1934 and that summer coached the Oakland Post No
5 American Legion team which went to the semi-finals of the American
Legion tournament in Topeka, Kansas. Six players from that team went
in to professional baseball.

During the
summer of 1935 he worked as a handy man in a wholesale liquor firm
in San Francisco, and played semi-pro baseball with Central Banks in
the Berkeley City League. He also played in the local winter league
where he attracted attention from professional scouts.

Abreu signed with the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League and
began his pro career in 1936 as part of the Yankees’ organization.
He batted .396 for Yakima Pippins in the Northwest League in his
rookie season and led them to the pennant. The following spring he
was a serious prospect at the Oaks’ spring training camp.

However, when the Yankees took over the Spokane Hawks of the Western
International League in 1937, Abreu was sent there. He hit .325, led
the league in triples and made the all-star team. Back in Oakland in
1938, under Dutch Zwilling he hit .299 and led the club in doubles,
triples, RBIs, total bases and sacrifices.

Abreu married Bernice Marshall on January 4, 1939, and batted .294
with the Oaks during the summer. He joined the Fort Worth Cats in
the Texas League in 1940, and his batting average dropped to .250
that season, prompting a sale to Milwaukee of the American
Association for 1941. Abreu hit .284 for the Brewers despite
injuring his sciatic nerve and breaking his right thumb.

In 1942, Abreu was on his way to Ocala, Florida to join the Brewers
at their spring training camp when a telegram informed him he had
been sold to the Los Angeles club. He was with the Angels a week
when he was acquired by Birmingham of the Southern Association. The
Barons immediately transferred him to their parent club – the
Cincinnati Reds.

In his major league debut on April 23 against the Pirates Abreu
drove in the Reds’ last run of a five-run seventh inning, as the
Reds won 5-3. The following day he hit a home run of Aldon Wilkie.
But Abreu would play only nine games with Cincinnati batting .214.
Capturing a far bigger share of the headlines than his on-field
pursuits was his interest in magic. A keen amateur magician, Abreu
first became interested when Carl Zamloch, the former Cubs’ pitcher,
put on a magic show at McClymond’s High School in 1932. Abreu was
hooked and a few years later went to see Zamloch to learn more
skills as a magician. By the time Abreu joined the Reds he could
boast a repertoire of over 400 card tricks and was a member of the
National Society of Magicians.

Joe Abreu
performs a card trick for Tom Swope of the Cincinnati Post
in 1942.

In July 1942, Abreu was traded to the New York Yankees with Jim
Turner for Frankie Kelleher, and the Yankees assigned him to Newark.
The following year he was in military service with the Navy at
Livermore Naval Air Station in California.

Abreu continued to play an abundance of baseball while in service.
He was an all-star selection with Livermore Naval Air Station in the
Army and Navy League of California, and played for the Golden Glows
in the Alameda Summer and Winter leagues.

Livermore Naval Air Station, managed by Reds’ catcher Ray Lammano,
won 150 games and lost 45 between late 1942 and August 1944.

On September 8, 1944, Joe Abreu’s Major-Minor League Stars played
Smiley Clayton’s Negro All Stars at the Oakland Oaks’ ballpark in
Emeryville. Abreu’s team included Bill Rigney, Cookie Lavagetto, Ray
Lamanno, and Rae Scarborough.

Abreu was discharged after the war ended and the Yankees’
organization named him as player-manager of the Wellsville Yankees
in the PONY League. In
September 1946, despite batting.352 to win the league batting crown
and leading the PONY League with 21 home runs he was unable to guide
Wellsville out of the second division and was given his
unconditional release.

He
was player-manager with the Newnan Brownie of the Georgia-Alabama
League in 1947, and managed the Tampa Smokers of the Florida
International League in 1948. On June 16, 1948, the Smokers held a
night in Abreu’s honor when he was presented with a new car and
other gifts.

Abreu
managed the Santa Rosa Cats of the Far West League in 1949, then
returned to California where he played for the semi-pro Guy’s Drugs
of Oakland, winners of the
Bush Rod Winter League – the first league to ever use the Designated Hitter
rule.

During the mid-50s Abreu was also playing softball with the Naval
Supply Center team in the Oakland Recreation Department Class A
League, and was involved in youth instructional baseball clinics in
the local area.

Joe
Abreu passed away on March 17, 1993 in
Hayward, California. He was 79 years old.